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There’s plenty of interest when Labour people say they won’t be voting for Ken, but there’s a curious lack of interest when a senior Tory, former cabinet minister and former leadership candidate says he won’t back Boris Johnson. Here’s Michael Portillo confirming that he won’t be backing Boris:

But he is still Tory my membership of labour has lapsed yet I’m still seen as a member

Hugh

By that reckoning David Owen is still a Labour party member.

treborc1

You never know, but I’m classed as a passive member non active, I still get all the booklets, all the Christmas cards, the birthday cards from my local party even though I’ve not paid my subs or gone to a meeting since 2008.

five weeks ago knock on the door to be asked if I would like to go out and canvass.

Labour does not believe lapsed members have gone, they believe we are just well broke.

Hugh

Being on the Labour party’s database is quite obviously not the same thing as being a member. As a statement of fact, Portillo is not a Conservative party member.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=715486331 Alex Otley

Yeah that’s just because they haven’t updated their database, either because of poor organisation or because they think they can win you back by showering you with newsletters and e-mails. I still get e-mails from a CLP I’ve not been a member of for 2 years.

ThePurpleBooker

No, hang on! Michael Portillo remains a member of the Conservative Party but he is inactive – he does nothing with it. David Owen left the Labour Party to set up his own party (but rumour has it that he is returning to the party after 31 years).

This is not true. Lapsed members who happen to have been an MP are still lapsed members. If what you said was true, it’d be impossible to get rid of defectors.

treborc1

A defector goes to another party, hence he has broken the rule that states you cannot be a member of another party.

GuyM

The Tories don’t work that way, membership lapses so Portillo is not a member.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=715486331 Alex Otley

It works the same for Labour. Even MPs need to pay their membership fee.

ThePurpleBooker

There is a difference between lapsed membership and no membership. Lapsed means that he is not active at all but he remains a party member.

ThePurpleBooker

He is a member, Hugh. He isn’t an active Tory member but he has said time and time again that he has a Tory membership.

Just_Another_Voter

“Senior Tory”?
He’s not even an MP, he’s just a TV presenter these days. Is he even still a member of the Conservative party?
Lord Sugar however is a Labour peer so there is a world of difference.
It is also well documented that Portillo and Boris hate each other so this really isn’t newsworthy in the way that Lord Sugar’s remarks are.

treborc1

Tell me if Thatcher had offered Sugar a peerage would he now be a Tory, the problem for Labour peerages of course most were bought.

AlanGiles

Interestingly, Mrs Thatcher gave the knighthood to the other King of the 8 Bit CPU from the mid 80s, Clive Sinclair.

But I think Sugar would probably have accepted if she had offered it.

Just_Another_Voter

He sits on the Labour benches in the Lords and takes the Labour whip. He is not a cross bencher. It is not about who enobled him per se.

treborc1

I cannot see labour giving him a peerage can you, look we all know Portillo was Thatchers man, and he has mellowed over the years but you attack Thatcher and see what you get, Blair of course was closer to Thatcher.

Boom Boom.

But really it does not matter does it Sugar who is labour has damaged Ken chances and he has helped a Tory, you tell me which one is doing the most damage.

AlanGiles

“Portillo and Boris hate each other so this really isn’t newsworthy in the way that Lord Sugar’s remarks are.”

Sugar doesn’t like very many people either – let’s be frank about it – he fancied the title (“dressed in a little brief authority” as the Bard had it) and New Labour liked TV people – and his money of course.

ThePurpleBooker

You could not be any more wrong. Portillo is a very senior Tory. He was an MP, served as a minister under Margaret Thatcher, he was defence secretary under John Major (quite a senior cabinet job) – and could have overthrown Major in 1995, he was Shadow Chancellor and was a Tory leadership candidate who nearly won! You are utterly wrong Just_Another_Voter! Lord Sugar on the other hand is just a Labour peer who has not had much experience in politics, but he has just been a Labour party member for years. So yes, there is a world of difference which is that Portillo’s remarks are more significant. Alan Sugar and Ken Livingstone despise each other and they go way back, whereas Boris Johnson voted for Michael Portillo in the Tory leadership election in 2001. So frankly you are just plain wrong.

ThePurpleBooker

Also, the world of difference between the two is that Lord Sugar is not voting in the Mayoral election because he is a registered voter in Essex and he did not endorse any other candidate (he doesn’t like Boris too, from what I hear). However, Portillo who is a very senior Tory and can vote in the elections endorsed Siobhan Benita and said he is not voting for Boris!

Johndclare

What the ‘black-or-white’ Tory journalistas don’t seem to be able to comprehend is that Lord Sugar can *still* be a clever man, a nice chap, a famous celebrity, an important Labour donor, and a respected Party member AND be wrong about Ken Livingstone. His open opposition to Mr Livingstone is regrettable, but everybody talks out of their proverbial from time to time.

And the answer to the ‘hang-and-flog-him’ Labour brigade is much the same. Lord Sugar has been a valued and high-profile supporter of the Labour Party for many years. His open opposition to Mr Livingstone is regrettable, but he hasn’t (as far as I am aware) actively campaigned for or financially supported Boris, he hasn’t stood against Mr Livingstone as an anti-Labour candidate — he hasn’t even (yet) voted against Mr Livingstone. So perhaps it would be best to overlook the gaffe and move on.

When Labour chose Mr Livingstone, they *knew* he was a controversial candidate, actively disliked by many people in his own Party … so please spare us the outrage when a few people state openly what we all knew to be true before the campaign even started. London Labour’s preoccupation at this present moment should be trying to win the mayoral election, and this storm-in-a-teacup should be dismissed as a distraction.

treborc1

Boris then, simple as that.

ThePurpleBooker

The thing about Alan Sugar and Ken Livingstone is that they do not personally like each other. There has been bad blood between the two for years, end of!

john problem

This is getting to be like a prize-fight ‘In the blue corner, in the red corner,’ but one doubts if they’ll stick by the marquess’s rules. But do we care?

treborc1

Not really I do not live in London, but I suspect many of the young hoping to get EMA may, EMA in Wales is massive help to families, my grandson pays for his own college meals and any books he needs.

GuyM

EMA is a redistributional tool to force responsible middle class parents to not only pay for their own children but to take on financial responsibility for working class / underclass parents kids as well.

I should not have to pay for my own children’s college meals and contribute to your grandson’s as well, your grandson’s meals are the responsibility of your family, not mine.

Constanceblackwell 15

Portillo is one of the excellent Tories that the Tories did not support –

but Labour would be in danger if he became Lib Dem – so hopefully he

will say mysterious or help Labour in another way

John P Reid

Portillo said he’d back Someone who wanted a third runway at Heathrow, Did Oona back this, Funny portillo had more in common with New labour than he did with the tories.

Since his defeat in 1997, I have changed my views on Michael Portillo. I have come to think of him as a thorougly decent man – a view confirmed by this refusal to vote for that great walloping buffoon, Boris Johnson. And he was just superb on the BBC railway series, “Great British Railway Journeys”.

Stoprisk

Me too, I am not backing Bin Laden Boris !
Polygamous Boris is in with the Salafists.
Boris and Cameron are a very serious RISK.
STOP RISK !

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